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Sunday, January 10, 2016

The Tea Room Experiment OR... Should I Take My 7 Year Old Son to a Quiet and Elegant Tearoom??

In my previous post I spoke of how I really wanted to visit a nearby tearoom for the first time this weekend but my typical "tea room partner," my 9 year old daughter, was busy with other plans.

So my dilemma was this: Do I cancel my visit to said tea room because daughter could not attend

or

try out a new "tea room partner" in the form of a 7 or 11 year old boy??

Several of you emailed and told me to take a boy.

Honestly, my boys are pretty well behaved in most social situations and in the tea room they would be well fed and able to enjoy one-on-one time with Mommy which hardly EVER happens.

So decision made.......

.... I brought a boy with me to Taylor's Tea Room in Dundas, Ontario, not 30 minutes away from our home.

Thus begins the Tea Room Experiment.

My older son received a playdate invite for the afternoon of the experiment, so my sweet 7-year-old, Camden, was the one I dragged along.

He was mad that it would take a "WHOLE HALF AN HOUR" to get there and was glad that he had packed a drink for the car "cause otherwise he would have died of thirst on the way there!!"

Oh the drama.

Luckily, once we arrived and parked the car, Camden was in a far better mood knowing that our food experience was right around the corner.

We were seated immediately right in front of a big sunny window, and Camden got right into "killing time" while we waited for our menus.

It's amazing what a kid can build with 25 little pieces of Lego and a bit of free time!

First we ordered our tea. Camden was shocked that he could pick a whole pot for himself. He went with a peach blend and I chose "Buckingham Palace" - a blend of jasmine and orange.

I showed Camden how to the use the tea strainer to avoid leaves in his drink and the explained to him about having your "tea leaves read" to tell your future. He thought I was nuts, but I caught him several times staring deeply into his leaves afterwards:

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We drink a lot of tea at home so Camden knows how he likes it. However, he is not very good at preparing his cuppa very quietly.

We practised taking small spoon-fuls of sugar and stirring our tea with as little spoon-to-cup clanging as possible!

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Camden ordered his own food off of the menu. He's a pretty simple guy so he chose a big fruit salad. When it arrived he was kind of put off by the blood oranges (too red and sweet!) but managed to eat through the rest of the big bowl of juicy goodness.

The tea room had a huge selection of freshly-made cakes in the glass cabinet nearby, but instead, Camden and I opted for a huge scone with cream and jam. I am glad I snapped this picture as quick as |I did cause the scone was gone in a flash!!

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Not sure about clotted cream at first, but he came around rather quickly as he munched away on the scone.

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By the time our bill was delivered, my quiet, patient and well-fed boy had completed this project out of his Lego.

He called it a "Mec"- something he had seen before on a Lego TV show.

As we finished up, 2 lovely older ladies stopped by our table to compliment Camden on his behaviour.

"Handsome and well-behaved - what a combination!" one said.

Well, I guess we know the results of the Tea Room Experiment.

I really can dress my boy up and take him somewhere -- even a quiet and elegant tearoom surrounded by ladies who lunch and high expectations.

Actually, I knew all along he could handle it. As long as the food comes quickly and he can keep his hands busy, Camden can sit for hours. He really does love the time with his Mommy and I adore my time with him.

And...he says he'll go out with me again soon. Well not too soon. First I have to take Bryn (my 11 year old) and then my daughter. And then when his turn comes up again, he'll probably want to be my date again. :)

I hope this post has brought a smile to your face on this Monday morning!

XOXOXOXO

Bronwyn

6 comments:

What a lovely lad! So often children can really spoil things for grown ups because they refuse to be quiet and behave. I realise that children need to be given some leeway, but when they're allowed to run havoc around restaurants, shops, dentists' waiting rooms and such, they're a pain. I'm pleased he obviously enjoyed his adventure because it'll make it more likely that he'll be enthusiastic about future new experiences.Well done Camden, I'd be happy to share a tea room with you any day!